A leader is a dealer in hope.

Reading the "Locating the School-To-Prison Pipeline" left me in awe. I had known that there were injustices in the educational system especially toward minorities but after reading this article the information in it made me extremely upset. The fact that the school-to prison pipeline is relying on the law to handle the students' minor conduct issues rather than the school taking the time to work with the student is ridiculous! I honestly cannot believe that it is to the extreme such as "students who enter the juvenile justice system face many barriers to their re-entry into traditional schools" The method in which they have come about to not even putting the time to serve as a support system for the students and actually helping them out rather than automatically incriminating them because their race fits a set stereotype. This situation truly angers me because it is a problem that has spread out for years and people are still so ignorant as to let go of the stereotypes and actually help beat the negative expectations for these students of minority. These students are basically being told that they will never be good enough to be successful in school and that there are low expectations for them. 

Also, after viewing the "Black Males, Black Dreams" video I was filled with mixed emotions. The story explained throughout the video hit close to home. It reassured me of the inequalities that my cousins in an public school in Los Angeles, California had told me about. I did not believe them that the teachers would not take the time to help them outside of hours when necessary or that they would be as to tell them that they were not going to graduate or succeed in school because of where their family comes from. It really upset me that there are not many that would actually take the time and serve as mentor or a guidance for students on the border of fulfilling the stereotype or accomplishing school. I really would like to serve as a mentor for students in this situation and help them realize that there is actually many obstacles that they can overcome with a honest support. 

As a STARS Leader I am hoping that through the Empowerment Pipeline program I can serve as a support system for students here in the Chicago area. These educational inequalities are really affecting students not only in Chicago public schools but also in inner city schools throughout the country. This is such a wide spread problem and I feel like I can do my share of helping for a better tomorrow by being a support /mentor to the students in the program that we will be working with, specifically beginning with the students of Tilden High School this upcoming Friday. I am very excited to have the opportunity to work with these students and help encourage them to attend school and achieve higher education that is available to them. There is sooo much more that I can ramble on about with this topic but I think it is time to wrap it up and give my keyboard a break from the hard typing haha.

Esperanza Benitez:)